Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Annual Report - April 2023 to March 2024
Reports, plans and updates
- Publication date
- Scheme name
- Domestic RHI
The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI) scheme was introduced in 2014 as a government financial incentive to promote the use of low carbon heating technologies and encourage the decarbonisation of UK domestic heating. Under the DRHI scheme, households that had installed air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers or solar thermal heating systems in England, Scotland and Wales and who met the eligibility criteria were able to apply to receive quarterly payments over seven years for the low carbon heat their systems were expected to produce. The DRHI closed to new applicants on 31 March 2022.
The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive annual report provides an update on DRHI scheme activity during Scheme Year 10 covering the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The report outlines details on accreditations under the scheme, payments made to participants, and the low carbon heat produced by accredited installations. It also provides an overview of our activity to monitor compliance, which helps to ensure only those eligible receive support under the DRHI, as well as our broader administration of the scheme.
Please note: For those who wish to look at the data used in the report in more detail, a spreadsheet with this information is published alongside the report below.
Accreditations
The DRHI scheme has supported the installation of 118,765 low carbon heating systems throughout its lifetime, reducing the UK’s reliance on fossil fuel heating in domestic properties. Roughly 53,000 participants have reached the end of their seven-year support period on the DRHI as of 31 March 2024.
A total of 59,889 boilers using fossil fuels have been replaced by lower carbon alternatives under the scheme, highlighting the DRHI’s contribution to building a cleaner energy system in the UK.
Payments and Heat Generation
The scheme subsidised 811.4 GWh of renewable heat generation in domestic properties in Scheme Year 10, bringing the total since 2014 to an estimated 8.84 TWh. This is enough to heat almost 770,000 typical UK homes for a year.
Almost £114 million was paid out in the past year of the scheme. This brings the total amount of support paid to over £1 billion for the first time, with payments totalling £1.06 billion since the scheme began in 2014.
The renewable heat generated, and payments made, have fallen in SY10 and will continue to fall as more accreditations reach the end of their support period.
Monitoring Compliance
Our audit, compliance and counter-fraud teams work tirelessly to ensure that public money is spent as intended. Through our monitoring and compliance activities on the DRHI, we protected £703,229 of public funds in Scheme Year 10 that we either prevented from being paid incorrectly or expect to recover.